


Finding You

by orphan_account



Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-04
Updated: 2011-08-06
Packaged: 2017-10-17 13:54:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/177545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Yeah. Sorry its been awhile. This is actually a prewritten story that i posted on another site but took it down form there because i enjoy this one a lot more. And thank you for all the hits and to those 2 people who gave me kudos. Oh. And i know this isn't he best written story. It's kinda old and it was when i first started writing. Just to let ya'll know.</p>
          </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Do ya mind lockin' up the shop, Izuru?" Gin asked. The blond sighed.

"Yeah, sure. Is this another date with your 'Ran-chan'?"

"Ya betcha!" Gin exclaimed over his shoulder as he strode out the door.

'Sometimes I wonder if that's the only thing he does.' Izuru thought as he walked around the bookstore, making sure everything was in place. Once he made sure everything was in its spot, he proceeded to lock up.

Izuru shivered as he stepped outside; it was freezing! He zipped up his jacket all the way and began his walk home. He kept mumbling incoherent complaints to himself about how cold it was. The blond stopped his useless ranting; he cleared his mind and focused it on one thing: sweet, cozy home.

With goal in mind, Izuru began walking a bit faster; so intent on getting home, he didn't notice the other figure in front of him. He stumbled to the ground, landing on his ass; he rubbed his lower back and waited  
for the cussing to begin. Instead, he was met with an outstretched hand.

Izuru grabbed the strangers hand and hauled himself off of the ground; once on his feet, he immediately apologized, "I'm very sorry I wasn't …" The words died on his tongue as he got a better look of the other.

This guy had dark, spiky hair that looked almost… soft? Piercing grey eyes that looked right through the blond; he was also wearing a tight red sweater, and Izuru could see a nice build beneath it.  
To sum it up, he had a punk-like appearance and looked like he could kick Izuru's ass. But that's not why the blond kept staring; he 'played for the other team', so of course Izuru was practically drooling.

He snapped out of his trance when the male spoke, "It's alright. I'm just concerned about you; you took quite a fall there." Izuru could only nod at the statement; this hot guy was talking to him so he (naturally) couldn't' speak.

"Good. Be more careful next time." The stranger advised as a continued walking in the opposite direction.  
Izuru's body temperature had risen; face on fire, the cool of the night felt good on his skin as he continued walking home.

Izuru thought his life was a peaceful one; too peaceful as a matter of fact. If there was one thing Izuru hated more than anything, was coming home to a quiet house. No one was there, he lived alone.

The reason he didn't like the silence, was because when he was younger, he had very loud siblings. Being the youngest, and less quiet of the bunch, he adapted to living in the noise. But they had to leave the nest eventually; so he could never really get used to the quiet, loneliness that was his home.

Izuru knew he couldn't do anything about the eerie silence, but he tried to dispose of the loneliness. The blond had tried several times to have a meaningful relationship with someone, but for some reason, it never lasted.

He wondered what he could have been doing wrong to cause the break-up; because he wanted to find out so badly, he studied the last relationship he was in.  
The answer was simple: Izuru hardly showed any displays of affection towards his partner. He realized that it must hurt the other person who tries and tries to get him to open up, but they just can't. The last relationship he was in was about…ten months ago; that one was going well, but he blew it.

Izuru sighed as he flicked the lights to his bathroom; he stood in front of the mirror and noted his characteristics: light blond shoulder-length hair, (big) blue eyes, and a lean body (with hopes of getting a nice build).

He wouldn't call himself attractive, and he was now just wondering why all of those people agreed to go out with him. The thoughts slipped from his mind as he entered the warm shower.  
After he finished his relaxing bathing time, Izuru collapsed onto his bed and quickly hid under the covers. The bed was quite big for one person.

That's when he realized just how lonely it actually was sleeping alone.


	2. Chapter 2

Izuru tried keeping a steady pace as he strode across the familiar path. His alarm hadn't gone off at the appropriate time, so he was running a bit late. The book store came into view; Izuru sprinted to the doors of the store.

Once in, Izuru quickly checked in as well as Renji, Momo, andIchimaru. He then went around to the back and picked up a box of freshly delivered books. Momo was also grabbing a box as he entered the room.

“Hey Momo, do you need any help?” He asked politely.

She set the box down to answer him, “Oh no! Trust me I’m fine, don’t worry about me. Just go on with your box.”  
The blond gave her a lopsided smile, “Okay, see you around then.”

He carried it to an empty shelf; placing it on the ground, he cut the tape concealing the items inside.  
Once he had it open, he pulled out a bundle of books and began placing them carefully on the shelves. Izuru was about half way done with the box; that's when he came across a certain book. It was to be placed on the second highest shelf, which Izuru couldn't reach.

He jumped up, hoping to get it in the first time. Nope. Attempt number two; he stepped back a little, getting a bit more speed for a higher jump. Failure. Izuru was becoming increasingly frustrated with his height and how tall the shelf was.  
This time when he jumped, Izuru landed his foot on the shelf just above it and gripped the top shelf with his right hand. With a triumphant grin on his face, he placed the book in its rightful place. Ha Ha! Victory!

"What the hell are ya doing Izuru?" The blond heard a familiar voice ask. Izuru wasn't expecting anyone to be near him, so he jumped at the sound of another person.

He fell to the ground on his ass, "For your information, I was putting books away." Izuru muttered as he rubbed his lower back.

Renji snickered, "Well where do ya go off and climb up a shelf? Ever heard of using a ladder?"

Oh.

Izuru must have been too focused on what he was already doing to remember using a ladder. "I guess I forgot." Izuru chuckled at his own stupidity as he picked himself off the ground.

"Anyway, shouldn't you be up at the registers in case someone comes to buy a book?"

Renji scowled. "But it's so boring. I'd rather watch ya be an idiot."  
Izuru rolled his eyes.

"Ha Ha. Well kick back and watch the show." He added sarcastically.

Renji chuckled; he loved pushing his friend’s buttons. "Alright, alright- I'm going." He turned and began walking to the front counter.

Izuru shook his head; how he got to have a best friend such as Renji was a mystery. I mean, the guy was a rebel his (probably) entire life. He had a strange appearance; with crimson red hair, tattoos covering his body, and had a short temper.

Definitely the look of a delinquent, but that was the surface; the red-head was actually a bright, kind-hearted guy who cared for his friends.

Ah, good memories.

Instead of putting the books away, Izuru found himself thinking back on all of the good times he and Renji had.  
But a tap on the shoulder cut his reminiscing short. He quickly snapped his head around to see who disturbed him. Oh how he wished he hadn't.

It was the stranger from last night.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He had gone into the bookstore that morning just to purchase a few books for a project that had come up. That's all. He wasn't expecting much, but he was quite surprised when he found the one he bumped into last night worked here.  
He saw him standing near a shelf, putting a few books away. He needed to get books, and since he worked there, he decided to ask.

First, he tapped his shoulder to get his attention; the blond snapped his head to see who had just bugged , he saw the most peculiar shade of pink once the blond was giving his full attention to him.

"Uh. H-how may I h-help you sir?" the blond stammered.

Instead of replying to the question, though, he offered his hand to the blond.

"Shuhei Hisagi. I don't really like a person calling me something that isn't my name."

The blond seemed hesitant, but shook his hand.

"Uh, my name is Izuru… Izuru Kira." He stuttered.  
Izuru, what a unique name…

The blond had no idea that the stranger from he had bumped into, was here in the flesh, giving his name. He was sure his cheeks were noticeably pink. He had shaken Shuhei's hand, and finished, but said person hadn't let go of his hand.

"Um, Shuhei… could you let go of my hand?" Izuru asked shyly.

"Oh, sorry. Hey, can you help me find some books?" Shuhei questioned, (thankfully) changing the subject.

"Yeah sure. What do the books have to be about?" Izuru inquired. After a pause, he replied.

"They have to be about hyenas. I need two at most."

"Alright. Just wait here a moment. I'll be back." Izuru proceeded to walk away quickly to get the books.

Once he was sure Shuhei was in no way near him, he exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.

He felt his cheeks cool down a bit; what was he doing here anyway? Well it IS a bookstore; he probably came to get books (of course). After reassuring himself that it was just a coincidence, Izuru began looking for books on hyenas.  
Once he retrieved them, he made his way back to where Shuhei was waiting. He handed him the books, "Is there anything else you need." Izuru asked meekly.

He felt that damn blush creep back o his; well, at least his bangs covered his left cheek.  
Without missing a beat, Shuhei replied, "No that's it. Well I gotta get going." He turned to leave.

"It was nice meeting you, Izuru Kira." And with that, Shuhei Hisagi, left.

The blond felt his face redden a great deal at the sound of his name. He had given his name to a complete stranger. Why though? How could he have been okay with letting someone he didn't know, his name?  
The answer was beyond him; but there was another thing bugging him. If he and Shuhei had met today, why did Shuhei bother giving his name? There wasn't any need or requirement for that, but he had.  
Something in Izuru told him that it wasn't what Shuhei claimed it to be, it was more than that. He began to think of what the reason could have been.

Then he came across a likely reason.  
Shuhei was interested in him.

But the moment that thought entered his brain, Izuru immediately pushed it away. Who would be interested in him? A glum faced, low-self esteemed young man.

Certainly not an attractive man such as Shuhei Hisagi, there was just no way…  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Shuhei exited the bookstore, he couldn't hep but think about the blond that was working there. He seemed like a different individual, well for Shuhei at least, because he never met someone with a glum expression on their face. The blond seemed so withdrawn as well, and didn't seem to have a lot of friends. It was weird, he felt as if he needed to get closer to him, like it was the right thing to do. There was also another thing bugging him; was Izuru sick or something, because his face was always flush around him.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey Izuru what's wrong with you? Are ya sick or something?" Renji asked as the blond emerged from the depths of the library. Izuru looked momentarily surprised at Renji's sudden assumption; was his face so red, you could see it from afar? How could he even tell? He was reading a magazine!

"What are you talking about Renji? I'm not sick." Izuru quickly replied. The last thing he wanted to do was tell his best friend what had just happened. But unfortunately, they had gotten to know each other so well, that they could tell when one of them was lying. So of course, the red-head didn't buy it for a second.

"Don't play dumb with me. You know you can't hide anything from me…for long at least."

"It's nothing, really Renji. There's nothing to fret over." Izuru insisted.

Said person sighed; looking up from the magazine, he locked eyes with Izuru. "Don't make me force it out of you." Izuru knew that his friend meant this but wasn't totally convinced. But the moment he saw Renji step out from behind the register, he bolted to the back of the store.

Izuru was faster, but Renji was faster and he caught the blond the only way he could: by tackling him to the ground.

"Ack! Let me go!" The younger struggled against his best friend's iron grip.

"Not 'till you tell me!" Renji sang.

Even though he was in a tight situation, Izuru began laughing. It was just that, this reminded him of the times they used to rough house with each other. But he soon stopped laughing because he was sure they were getting a couple of stares. He he had to tell him.

"Alright. I'll tell you, just get off of me." The blond ordered.

Renji immediately stood up and helped the blond up. Once Izuru was up off the ground, he explained to his friend why his face was red.

Renji chuckled once Izuru was done; "Well, looks like you got a crush on someone, and he may be interested in you as well." The blond colored at this.

"How would you know Renji? He's probably straight for all you know, and anyway, he's way out of my league…" His words drifted off of his tongue. Meanwhile, the red-head felt a bit bad for making his friend get that glum expression back on his face.

"Don't make those faces again. Tell you what, after work, why don't we go grab a bite to eat. It's on me." Renji suggested. He was glad to see the corners of that frown turn up a bit.

"Thanks Renji, you always know what to do to make me feel better."  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Ugh. Izuru's stomach hurt like there was no tomorrow; he had taken up Renji's offer and stuffed himself with food. He regretted it the moment he got home; he was currently lying down on his bed, hoping the ache in his belly would go down a bit.

In hopes of forgetting about the ache, he let his mind go back to this morning.

Was Renji right about Shuhei? Was he interested in him? No, he couldn't be; he had given his name out of courtesy, nothing more. But, what if it wasn't? Like how he had thought earlier…

Well, Renji did have more experience in dating… so maybe Shuhei was a bit interested in him, even if only a little…  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Izuru loved his job, but some days were just awful. Like today, it was dead, no people coming in; he was by himself to do absolutely nothing. There were no books that had to be put away (for he put them away earlier in the week), and not even Renji was here, it was his day off!

He would talk to other co-workers, but he didn't feel too comfortable with them. And Momo was sick so that left her out.

So here he was, bored out of his mind; he decided to walk around the place and see if anything was out of order. Everything was put in its place; he sighed, there was nothing to do except, maybe…

The blond looked around; no one was inside, his boss was rarely here so…. He began plucking books out from the various shelves around the store until he had a big pile on an empty table. At least he had time to get lost in sweet, wonderful, literature.

Shuhei walked around the plaza, window-shopping for anything that might catch his attention. He (also)went out for a walk because he thought today was going to be a sunny day; but the news reporters lied. It was cold, damp, and cloudy. No sun, not many people out; He sighed. What to do, oh what to do.

Then, he passed by the bookstore where Izuru Kira worked; well, I do want to get to know him more, don't I? Shuhei stopped in front of the door; but for some unknown reason, he felt nervous about going inside. There was nothing to be nervous about; he just wanted to talk to him, that's all.  
He stepped inside.  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"No! Don't go outside! He's out there!" Izuru exclaimed like an idiot as he read a horror novel. The stupid protagonist was about to go out and look for her friends, even though she knew there was a killer out there. As the blond continued reading, he became less and less aware of his surroundings. It was as if he was there with the girl and it was absolutely frightening. "The killer's right behind you!" he yelled.

"Hey, what're you reading?" A voice asked.

Izuru jumped out of his chair and onto the floor; he looked up to see Hisagi standing over him, trying to suppress a laugh.

He colored from embarrassment; "Uh, Hey Shuhei, what's up?"

"Nothing much; what were you doing?" Shuhei asked, a bit of amusement evident in his voice.

"Oh, I was just reading a very… shocking book, that's all." The blond responded as he picked himself off of the ground. Once he dusted himself off, he tried not to focus his attention on Shuhei, so he looked at the pile of books on the table. Why was he here?

"I just wanted to see you. Maybe talk a little too." Shuhei informed.

What? He wanted to talk with him? Him? Why him? He wasn't an interesting person; very boring, actually.

"Um, ok. What do you want to talk to me about?" Izuru inquired. He could feel that damn blush begin to creep back on his face as he felt a pair of eyes on him. He knew that if he met the others gaze, the red in his face would intensify, and make it (even more) obvious that he liked him.

Instead of hearing words, though, Izuru felt the back of Shuhei's hand against his forehead. "Well, you don't have a fever, but your cheeks are burning." The older commented as he moved his hand down to the blonds' cheek. It was as if he was almost cupping it.

Holy crap. What the hell was Shuhei doing? He was making skin contact with Izuru, and it wasn't making the blush on his face any better. God, he wanted so badly to tell him that he was fine, but said persons hand was very distracting.

Izuru was sort of forced to look up at Shuhei's face, so he did. And for a brief moment, they held each others eyes; was that… affection in Shuhei's eyes? The blond did not have time to confirm this because as soon as their eyes met, Shuhei had dropped his arm to his side and turned away.

"Bye Izuru, see you tomorrow." Shuhei said over his shoulder as he left. It took quite a few moments for the blond to completely register what he had just said.

Once he did, he began freaking out.

"Did he say tomorrow? He'll come again? Why? I must not have heard right!" When Izuru was positive that he had heard right, his face tinged a light pink; burying his head in his hands, he felt like he was in denial. The possibility of Shuhei being interested in him was even greater now. But he shouldn't get his hopes up like that. Afterall, Shuhei only thought that he was sick because he was blushing so much.  
What was wrong with him? Why did he just do that? He had probably just sent the wrong message to Izuru… But, it didn't feel wrong to Shuhei, not at all. It felt like he did the right thing, but why? He never considered himself gay, initially thinking he was straight.

But... something was different about Izuru; it felt right to get 'close' to him, to be more than friends. Shuhei was confused about his feelings; was he gay?

No, he wasn't, all he did was check if Izuru was sick, that's all. He was going to visit the blond tomorrow as if nothing happened. Once he reassured himself, he was unaware of the big smile plastered on his face.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, Izuru was quite reluctant to get to work; yeah Renji would be there (maybe even Ichimaru). But he wasn't sure if he would be able to face Shuhei, or even see him. He had nothing against him; it was just that… he wasn't sure if what he did had meant something. All he knew is that it would be pretty awkward between them.

That is IF he came. Would he even go just to see Izuru? How could he believe such a man he hardly knew anything about, something only a fool would do.

'I bet he won't even show; to see me there? Don't make me laugh!' The blond snorted as he opened the door to his workplace.

'He was just checking my temperature, remember?'

Upon entering the building, the first thing he saw was Renji dozing off at a nearby table; He sighed, irritated. While Renji chose to sleep off his hangovers at work, Izuru was usually stuck with both of their work. And he didn't even get paid extra for dealing with that crap! So instead, he walked over to the table and pulled up a chair next to his friend.

"Hey Renji." Izuru greeted casually. The red-head had his head propped up with one hand and his eyes were closed. Upon hearing his friend's voice, Renji cracked an eye open.

"Don't talk so loud, I have a killer headache from last night." He explained. Yikes. The red-head must have drunk a hell of a lot of beer to get a hangover that severe. Thank god Izuru never liked alcohol; well he did but he could never hold it, so he rarely drank it.

His attention turned back to Renji; he had to get his ass up from the chair and get him to work.

"C'mon Renji, you have to go man the register." The blond pointed out.

His friend groaned in protest, but after a few moments of bugging and persuading, he went to the register. Good, Izuru thought to himself as he picked up a box of unopened books. He placed it near a bare shelf and began to put the selections away.

He couldn't help but feel just a miniscule disappointed when, at the end of the day, Shuhei hadn't shown up. But then again, what else was there to expect? The last customer had just left, so he and Renji now had to decide who was going to lock up.

"Why don't I just close up Renji? You can go on ahead. I won't mind." Izuru suggested.

"Are you sure? You have been working a lot lately…." He tried, but the blond would hear none of that.

"No. It's alright, just go home and get some rest. I can tell you haven't fully recovered from that hangover of yours." Izuru pointed out.

His friend only shrugged; he knew there was no stopping his friend, especially when it involved work.

"Fine. See you tomorrow Izuru." The red-head said over his shoulder as he walked out the double doors.

Once he left, the blond scurried around the bookstore and made sure everything was in place and that there were no books laying around. After double checking, he flicked off the lights and stepped outside. They had ended the day rather early today; the sun was nearly finished setting. He twisted the key in the lock.

After locking the door, Izuru began his walk home right away. For some reason, he wanted to go home as fast as possible, so he moved quickly. Just as he was about to cross the street, he thought he heard his name being called. He looked around, but no one was near him except a group of girls who were also waiting for the light.

He shrugged it off as the wind, but he heard it again; someone was shouting his name?

"Izuru! Wait up!" Someone shouted.

Said person turned around; his eyes widened slightly as he saw who was approaching at an alarming rate.

Shuhei ran as fast as he could to the store; when he saw it was closed, he spotted Izuru not far off from it. He shouted his name, and luckily, it caught his attention. The blond looked a bit surprised to see him; he caught up to Izuru and panted for a few moments.

"Sorry I'm late. I was busy." He managed to say in between pants. Once Shuhei had completely caught his breath, Izuru asked him a very odd question.

"Shuhei, why did you run over here?"

Said person stared at him; he felt his expression soften a bit before saying, "Because, I wanted to see you again." When he saw Izuru's cheeks redden a great deal, it dawned on him.

The blond wasn't sick, as he originally thought, because he was blushing.

But for some reason, when Shuhei realized this, he wasn't disgusted. In fact, he felt somewhat relieved, but he didn't know why. Before he could ask Izuru something, the blond turned away.  
"Well it's been nice chatting with you, but I really must get going." Before the older could stop what he was doing, he found that he had grabbed Izuru's hand.

"Wait, let me walk you home. It's nearly dark…"

The blond could even hear that there was an almost pleading tone to his voice. He felt pretty embarrassed for doing this; to make it worse, there was a group of girls giggling near them. He ignored them, and only focused to hear Izuru's response.

"Alright, you can walk me home." The blond responded, his voice barely above a whisper.

Once Izuru had closed the door, he flung himself onto the couch, face first. The walk home with Shuhei wasn't entirely bad, just… awkward, on his part at least. He had been silent the whole way, and tried not looking at the person walking him too much (but he did glance over at him from time to time).

Shuhei, on the other hand, seemed quite comfortable next to the blond and talked about his day and why he was late. He said that the club he was working was short one person, so he took the guys shift.

The (one-sided) conversation lasted the whole way, and Izuru sort of enjoyed listening to him. He only wished that he contributed to it, if only a little. He grabbed a pillow and hugged it tightly; why did he walk him home? Maybe it was just what he said before: He just wanted to get to know him more.

Yeah, it was probably just that, right?


	5. Chapter 5

Izuru had no idea that Shuhei would become so… devoted to visiting him, because after that faithful day when he walked the blond home, he came back every day. Well he wouldn't necessarily say every day; it was more like every other day.

Shuhei would come about an hour before closing time, and during that time, he would help out around the place. Like, he would help him put the books away, or sweep a little, or help people find what they were looking for.

The blond thought it was sweet that his 'friend' did this, it made some of the days at work actually enjoyable, especially the conversations afterwards. After the store closed, and Renji was gone, he and Shuhei would get to know each other a little more each time. Yesterday, for example, Izuru learned a little about a few of his favorite things to do. The older had told that he likes to play the guitar and even writes his own songs.

Another thing he learned was where he worked at; it was at a local bar, he served as a bartender there. To Izuru, that sounded way cooler than working at a grubby old bookstore; but Shuhei had told him he would rather work here, because at least here, he had interesting people to work with. The blond wished he didn't read too much into this but he did, blushed, and made a fool of himself. Anyway, Shuhei didn't seem to notice, so his secret was still, a secret.

He had been visiting for a couple of weeks now, and in those weeks, Renji confronted Izuru about something.

"I ain't saying it's a bad thing, but you have changed over the last couple of weeks, Izuru." The red-head said.

"How's that, Renji? I'm still the same old Izuru, aren't I?" The blond responded. His friend raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I've noticed ever since Shuhei started coming around, that you've become less glum and more… cheery. I rarely see that damn expression on your face anymore." Renji pointed out.

"It's like; Shuhei's turning your world around."

After that, Renji had dropped the subject and they resumed their usual routine at work. It was strange that he would say a thing like that, but maybe he was right. Had Shuhei really been making Izuru's moods lighter? Come to think of it, he did notice that he was smiling more than usual and didn't feel as lonely as he used to be…

What if Renji was right before, that Shuhei was actually interested in him, but now it seemed more like he was attracted to the blond? Izuru shook his head maybe one of these days, he would be able to confirm. But there was no time for that now; he had to finish putting the things back in order before Shuhei arrived, because he wanted to have an extra long talk with him today.  
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  
Shuhei learned much about Izuru; he loved to read, his favorite animal was an ocelot, his favorite color was blue and many more non-childish things. He didn't think that, once you got to know him that he would open up so much. The first time Shuhei first laid eyes on Izuru, his first thought was 'Wow that guy has some problems.' But as he began to visit Izuru more and more often, he found that he wasn't as glum as he made himself out to be.

The blond was actually a very happy, cheery individual (well he could be) but most of the time, he was calm, quiet, and very shy. Especially around Shuhei-who had long accepted the fact that Izuru felt something for him, and that he himself felt… the same about the blond. It was strange at first, when he realized his feelings for him; to like another male was considered wrong where he grew up.

But he didn't care anymore what others would say, think. Shuhei had gotten closer to Izuru more than he originally sought out and he would do anything to make them even closer.

He waited outside near a bench that was located close to the bookstore; he was tired from his own job and wasn't of much use in his condition. He knew that the blonde would walk out of there in a few moments and look for him.

And as if on cue, Izuru stepped out of the small shop; after locking the door/gate, the blond looked around for him. He spotted Shuhei in just a few seconds and began walking his way to where he was standing.  
After they had exchanged salutations and caught up on each other's days, they both began walking together to Izuru's home.

As they walked side-by-side, Shuhei could feel his heartbeat increase; his body seemed to get hotter by the minute. These sensations have been accompanying him a few days after he had begun walking home with the blondeand they were overwhelming. Each time they popped up, all Shuhei wanted to do was turn Izuru around and kiss him with such passion, that he almost went through with it a few times. But in the end, he fought off the urge to do so because he had no idea how the younger would react.

Shuhei didn't know if he could do so today; it seemed that his brain was losing control to his body little by little.

'Don't worry Shuhei; we're almost to the door. Once I say goodnight, I can get the hell out of here.' He thought. They were only a few steps away from the door; Izuru stood in front of it for a moment, then turned to say his goodnights.  
Shuhei couldn't hold it in anymore.

He practically threw himself on Izuru but his arms eventually found a comfortable position around the blond's waist. Then, he let his head rest in the crook of his (now more than) friend's neck.

"Izuru, I know we have only known each other for such a short time, but in that short period of time, I have grown strong feelings for you and… well, what I'm trying to say is that I really want to make our relationship more than a friendship." Shuhei murmured into the blonds' ear.

He could feel his cheeks burn; he wasn't used to confessing his feelings to anyone so he was quite embarrassed. But he knew Izuru felt the same about him, so there was nothing to be nervous about. That wasn't the case; an awkward silence followed Shuhei's confession. He took the silence as a rejection; he slid his arms from Izuru's waist and back to his sides.

"Sorry, forget about it." He promptly turned, but (unexpectedly) Izuru grabbed his hand, stopping him in his tracks

"Ah, well, I have to say that this… surprised me a bit. But the truth is, I'm really happy right now; I've actually felt the same way ever since I… met…" The words died on his tongue because Shuhei had turned and was staring him straight in the face. Shuhei looked for any doubt in Izuru's eyes; when he made certain that he wasn't pulling his leg, he hugged Izuru tightly against his chest.

"You have no idea how happy I am right now." Shuhei murmured. He nestled his head back in the crook of the blonds' neck. Izuru, on the other hand, was flustered; he could he feel his cheeks burning from embarrassment. He had just (basically) told Shuhei that he has always liked him, but other than feeling flustered, he was happy. Shuhei had the same feelings for him, as he did him.

After a few moments of being in his embrace, Izuru suddenly became aware of their surroundings. It was nighttime, they were outside, and it was cold. Shuhei must have realized as well because he slowly slid his arms from the blonds' waist.

"I guess you should get going then. It's already late." Before Izuru could turn to go inside his home, Shuhei crushed his lips against Izuru's. Now, Izuru has kissed many guys in his lifetime, but Shuhei was one hell of a kisser. He kissed him with such a passion, a passion he had not felt in years. But it ended all too soon; Shuhei pulled away, and whispered, "Goodnight Izuru. See you tomorrow."

The blond barely noticed that he had said anything, because he was still dazed from that passion-filled kiss.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yeah. Sorry its been awhile. This is actually a prewritten story that i posted on another site but took it down form there because i enjoy this one a lot more. And thank you for all the hits and to those 2 people who gave me kudos. Oh. And i know this isn't he best written story. It's kinda old and it was when i first started writing. Just to let ya'll know.

"Oi! Izuru! Quit daydreaming!" Renji yelled at his spaced out friend. The blond snapped out of his reverie after hearing Renji's (quite annoyed) voice. He looked up to see his red-headed friend standing next to him, arms crossed with a very pissed off expression. What happened? Did he do something wrong again?  
"You've been slacking off Izuru; I've been running around all over the place trying to get both of our jobs done. I wouldn't have minded five minutes, but you've been standing here doing nothing for over an hour." Renji pointed out.  
An hour? Izuru felt bad for making Renji do all of the work, but he couldn't help but think back on last night! That was probably one of the happiest days in his life… still, it was no excuse to blow off work just to reminisce about that. He had a job to do and by George he was going to do it.  
"I'm sorry Renji, I shouldn't have been daydreaming and dump my work on you." Izuru murmured.  
"It's alright Izuru, just don't back into dreamland the rest of the day." Renji ordered. So, for the rest of the day, Izuru kept on task, not once stopping for any reason (not even the restroom). It wasn't a hectic day; maybe three dozen people bought something, not as busy as usual. Finally at the end of the day, Izuru and Renji sat at their usual hangout table. This was a perfect time to ask.  
"So Izuru, why were you spacing out today?" The red-head questioned the moment the blond sat down at the table. Izuru wasn't sure if he should tell Renji… he got really protective of him and if he ever saw that his best friend was hurt… well all hell would break loose. So instead of telling him, he tried lying to him.  
"Nothing, I just watched a documentary about…ghosts… and…Bigfoot. It freaked me out and I couldn't stop thinking about it, you know?" The blond lied. He knew that Renji would never buy this but it was worth a shot. The red-head eyed him suspiciously as he tried to keep a poker face, but it was harder than he thought it was. After a few more moments of studying his face, Renji came to a conclusion.  
"You're lying; I can see it in your eyes. Izuru, just tell me what you were thinking about. Unless you were thinking of… well… you know…" Izuru could see his face turn scarlet red. What? Was his mind in the gutter?  
"NO! I wasn't thinking about... those things. Something happened last night, with Shuhei." Great now he HAD to explain to Renji. So, the blond slowly explained what had happened the night before with said person. Once he was finished explaining, Izuru waited for the mother hen to start his babbling and protective instinct to take over.  
"That quickly? I knew that there was something going on between you two but…" He couldn't find the right words for his shock. But his shock was quickly replaced with enthusiasm. "Izuru, that's great! It's about time you put yourself back on the market!" Renji exclaimed. He had abandoned his chair to get Izuru in a bear hug.  
"I'm so happy for you! My little Izu has finally captured himself a real looker!" The red-head joked as he squeezed the life out of the blond.  
"Ack! Renji, I'm…blacking…out." Izuru managed to choke out.  
"Sorry 'bout that Izuru." Renji chuckled as he pulled himself off of his best friend. Once Izuru had caught his breath, he looked at his friend, quite surprised.  
"You're okay with it? What's with the sudden change of attitude you're usually so… protective of me." The blond asked suspiciously.  
"Well for one, I've seen this guy around ad he doesn't seem like a bad person. And two, it's been far too long since you met someone who has made you this happy, Izuru." Renji murmured. The blond was touched by this, "Renji…" He wanted to say something in return, but was abruptly stopped when he felt two arms embrace him (in an almost protective manner).  
"Hey Izuru." Shuhei whispered. Izuru could feel his hot breath against the nape of his neck, effectively sending shivers down his spine. "H-hello Shuhei." The blond stammered. That's all he could really say because (of course) it was hard to concentrate when your boyfriends lips were practically kissing your neck. Even worse, it was in front of his best friend; speaking of Renji…  
He was staring wide-eyed at the pair, absolutely speechless. But a snicker eventually escaped his lips; "Why don't you go home Izuru, I'll lock up. And besides, you look like you got your hands full, anyway." Izuru knew that Renji wasn't offering him to go; he was telling him to get out of here. Well, there was one thing he hated about the red-head at the moment. His attention shifted, though, to the male who still had his arms wrapped around him, and hi head still resting snuggling in the crook of his neck.  
Shuhei kissed Izuru's cheek then removed his arms from his waist. Izuru scowled, but blushed nonetheless; "What? Wish we stayed like that for a little longer?" Shuhei teased. If anything, the blond could feel his face burn off from embarrassment. This made the older laugh.  
"Well, I guess we can go now, Renji took over so…" He paused when he saw the smug look on Shuhei's face.  
"Why do you wanna leave so quickly, Izuru? Can't wait for us to be alone?" He teased.  
"No! I just want us to go so it won't be dark by the time we get back home." Izuru replied defensively. He had no idea that Shuhei could be such a tease.  
He saw Shuhei raise an eyebrow, "You say that as if we live together. I like that idea…" What? He didn't mean it that way!  
"I didn't mean it in that way! I mean um… uh…" Izuru was too embarrassed to say anything else. Shuhei chuckled.  
"I know you didn't mean that, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to tease you." He entwined their hands together. "Shall we?"  
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%  
As they walked through the plaza and to the street walk, Izuru could feel eyes on him and Shuhei; Why? Because they were holding hands. There was nothing wrong with that, it was just that, Izuru really hadn't wanted to hold hands in the first place. He knew that they would get a stare or two, that's why he didn't want to; he hated unwanted attention. But his boyfriend had insisted that they do, and Izuru couldn't say no to him.  
So here he was, waiting with Shuhei for the street light to turn into the glowing walking man that told them they could cross. As they waited, Izuru looked up to the sky; it was getting noticeably darker, not by the night, but by storm clouds. He felt his stomach churn. There was something that he hadn't told Shuhei: he was afraid of thunder. He felt like such a child every time he thought of his fear for thunderstorms; if you're a grown man, and you're afraid of thunder, that is pretty embarrassing to admit.  
He remembered when he was younger that he had always been afraid of it; his parents said it was a phase and that he'd grow out of it soon. But one day, when he was fifteen, a thunderstorm hit, he was as scared as a cat being chased by a dog. Izuru remembered going to the closest comfort he had at the time: Renji. Renji would always comfort him during the storms, unlike his parents who had no clue that he was still frightened by it. He found a great comfort when he was in his best friend's arms; it was like the storm was being blocked from his ears or something.  
But Renji wasn't here; it was just Shuhei and Izuru.  
As they crossed the street, Izuru looked up at the sky again; this time, the sky was covered in dark grey storm clouds. He inwardly cringed when he saw a streak of lightning flash across the sky; the storm was getting closer by the second.  
Shuhei must have noticed his distress because he heard him ask, "Izuru, are you alright?" All the blond could do was nod; he was trying so hard not to look up at the sky as they continued walking to his home.  
"Damn. Wish I brought an umbrella, looks like it's gonna pour any second now." Shuhei commented as he pulled his hoodie on. Then, there was a loud clap of thunder. Izuru pried his hand from Shuhei's and took off running.  
It took a few moments for him to realize what had just happened, but not long. "Izuru!" Shuhei yelled. But his cries went unheard because they were drowned out by another roar of thunder. It had started drizzling by that time, and Shuhei was getting wetter by the moment. He had no choice but to chase after the blond, even if it meant getting soaked to the skin.  
Shuhei ran as fast as his legs could carry him where he saw the blond run. His legs had taken him to the front of Izuru's apartment. He paused a few moments, catching his breath before he tried entering the perimeter. He put his hand up to knock, but the door was open just a crack; Shuhei slowly pushed the door open. Once he was inside, he felt heat envelope him. He shook off his soaked jacket and placed it neatly on a chair nearby.  
After making sure he locked the door, he quietly looked around for Izuru, calling his name every now and then. Shuhei spotted a door not too far off that was open; he deemed that to be the bedroom. He slowly entered the room, and sure enough, there was a bed in the middle, next to a window. A streak of lightning lit the room for a moment, and Shuhei swore that he saw something that looked like a head of blond hair. He crept over to the other side of the bed where the window and bed were only about three feet from each other.  
What Shuhei saw made his heart throb; it was Izuru in the corner, knees brought up to his chest, and his hands clamped onto his ears. And he wore an expression of such fear; it almost brought tears to Shuhei's eyes. A boom of thunder made the blond jump, then whimper slightly. He's afraid of thunder…  
Shuhei walked over to where Izuru was sitting and carefully picked him up (bridal style).  
"Ah, Shuhei? What're you doing here?" Izuru asked, somewhat relieved that Shuhei was here. But he didn't answer; he placed Izuru on his bed and wrapped a blanket tightly around the blond. Shuhei climbed into the bed next to Izuru and wrapped his arms tightly around him.  
"It's okay Izuru, I'm here don't be scared anymore." Shuhei whispered into the blond's ear. He felt Izuru relax in his arms; he snuggled into his chest. "Thank you Shuhei." He whispered faintly. The blond fell asleep a few moments after. Shuhei smiled down at the sleeping figure, hoping he could keep the fear away.


	7. Chapter 7

Izuru awoke on his bed; though it didn't really feel like a bed. He could tell that he was in his bedroom when he looked around the room. But, instead of feeling the softness of the mattress below him, he was wrapped tightly in a blanket and someone had their arms wrapped around him. Izuru looked up; he realized that he was in Shuhei'sarms. He felt his face color when he realized just how close they really were. He became so embarrassed; he tried to escape from the sleeping man's chest.

But it seemed that every time Izuru wiggled out a bit from the embrace, Shuhei tightened his hold on him. So the blond gave up and settled for snuggling back in to the well-toned chest. It wasn't as bad as he thought it to be; who wouldn't want to be in the sleeping arms of a (quite) well-built man? Yup, life sure was good right now…

The blond looked up again and noticed how… peaceful Shuhei looked when he was asleep. He struggled to get an arm from under the blankets, but eventually managed to get a hand free. He gently caressed Shuhei's cheek, his fingers barely grazing the cheek. Izuru was very lucky to meet Shuhei; he was kind, sweet, gentle and accepted Izuru for who he was. For that one moment, Izuru allowed himself to smile.

It seemed that Izuru didn't realize that Shuhei was now wide awake, but he was glad he didn't, because then he wouldn't have seen that smile. When he saw Izuru smile, there was such happiness radiating from it; it made him look beautiful. He only wished he could see it on his face more often. Well, he better make himself known.

"Good morning Izuru." Shuhei yawned. The blond looked startled for a moment, but quickly composed himself back, except he took the smile from his face.

"Good morning." Izuru mumbled into Shuhei's chest, now wishing that he could leave the room, on account of how embarrassed he was.

"Izuru, you should smile like that more often; it makes you look beautiful." Shuhei murmured. He couldn't see the expression that was on Izuru's face, but he was sure that he had that cute blush on there.

"Well, I need to go get ready for my duties at the library. Make yourself comfortable." The blond pried himself from Shuhei's embrace and sat up on the bed. Hisagi just relaxed himself on the bed as he saw the blond leave the room.

***************************************

As soon as Izuru was out of the room, he ran to the bathroom. He locked the door; he put his hands on either side of the sink and looked into the mirror. His face was red from what had happened; how embarrassing! He saw me smile and said I looked… beautiful. He flushed just thinking about it. Izuru shook his head.

Right now he needed to get ready for his job or he was going to be late.

A few minutes later

Izuru emerged from the bathroom, feeling refreshed. He went back to his bedroom to check on Shuhei, but he wasn't there. He assumed that he left, so thought nothing of it. But he did feel a bit lonely. Can't be helped…

Izuru walked into the living room and saw Shuhei finger through some of his old novels that were sprawled about the kitchen counter. He felt Izuru's presence and looked up.

"Uh, I h-have to get going now." The blond stammered as he walked over to the front door. He yanked the door open, quickly walking out the door. But he was yanked back with equal force, into Shuhei's chest. Said person cupped his face and kissed him tenderly on the lips.

"Have a nice day."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Shuhei smiled to himself as the blond quickly walked away and out of sight to work. He closed the door a few moments later; he looked around the house. It was pretty plain, not much decoration or pictures out, but there was one that sat face down on the coffee table. He walked over to the framed picture; he picked it up and studied it.

It was Izuru as a small child, holding a small creature that appeared to be an ocelot. What caught his attention the most was the big smile that he had on his face... Instead of smiling, Shuhei frowned; he noted how different his expression was here. Why are you so glum, Izuru? What can I do to make that go away?

His thoughts were interrupted by a vibration in his pocket. He pulled out his phone and flipped it open. He had received a text message. Shuhei's face lit up upon reading the message.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

"He's what?" Renji exclaimed. "Damn, you guys don't waste anytime, huh?" He huffed. As usual, Izuru and Renji were seated at their favorite table. Izuru just finished telling his friend that Shuhei had stayed over at his house.

"We didn't do anything… he comforted me during the storm yesterday…" The blond added hastily.

"Oh right. I was a bit worried about you; I almost went to check up on you, but lucky I didn't!" snickered. Izuru rolled his eyes. He looked around and noticed the last person in the store left.

"Hey Renji, want to hang out? I don't think Shuhei is picking me up today." He suggested.

Renji stood up and stretched. "Hm. Sounds good to me, 'sides, I haven't been able to hang out with you in awhile."

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Renji and Izuru decided to go to the town square to hang out; they used to hang out there all the time when they were young, so they thought it was a perfect place.

"So Renji, how's it been?" Izuru asked.

"It's been good; Nothing new, same old, same old. You?" Renji replied. There had to be something wrong with Renji. He would always babble on about his day and start cracking bad jokes. What was up?

"Renji, what aren't you telling me?" Izuru questioned. They passed by a park; it seemed peaceful enough, except there were screaming children to be heard. His friend didn't answer right away, but Izuru didn't push it, he knew Renji was going to tell him.

"Okay, I've been caught. I was meaning to tell you, and I guess it's about time I do… I met someone." Renji whispered. But Izuru heard it. His first reaction was shock, but then (like Renji) it turned to enthusiasm.

"Really? What's her name?" Izuru questioned quickly. Renji chuckled, "Well, her name's Rukia. Rukia Kuchiki." He said her name with such… love and happiness, that Izuru couldn't help but look over at his friend. He could tell just by looking at Renji, that he really loved her.

He felt so happy for Renji; he finally met a gal that could take his childish, wild behavior. It was a miracle in itself.

"I'm so happy for you. I wish the best for you." Izuru announced.

"Thanks, Izuru." Renji replied with such a smile on his face. "Hey, tell ya what, I'm gonna treat us to a meal. You wait here while I go get us something to munch on." He pointed to a bench and walked off without saying another word. The blond took a seat on the bench and enjoyed the view. The stores and lights were lit everywhere, people bustling around in groups. There was even a full moon out tonight.

He didn't want to look around to see where Renji went, so he settled for watching various couples passing by. They all looked very happy to be in each other's presence; most of the couples, except a certain one where there was a seemingly cheery girl with orange hair, but her partner was the exact opposite. He had a stoic expression on his face, quite pale, and emerald green eyes.

The next couple that passed consisted of a busty, strawberry-haired woman with quite an attractive partner. He had a nice, well-toned body, a tattoo on his face an- Wait. Was that… Shuhei? Izuru's heart stopped; was he seeing someone else? Maybe it's just a friend... But that thought vanished when he saw Shuhei laughing. He stopped and turned to hug the woman. Shuhei then wore an expression he thought only he was supposed to see: A warm, peaceful smile.

Izuru felt his heart crack a bit. No, that was an understatement; his heart shattered.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just one more chapter after this and it's done. There are no edits to this as i have some important buisness to attend to. Thank you for taking the time to read such a petty fanfiction. And, also, some of the character tags i placed were by accident. I wanted to rewrite this but got lazy with it and decided 'hey, this is okay on its own.' Hope you enjoy this.

Thinking, thinking, thinking…

That's all Izuru was doing as he walked home, trying to fight off tears. He thought about his short relationship with Shuhei; now that he thought about it, should he even call it a relationship? They hardly spent any time with each other; maybe a month tops, but as an official couple, just two days. They hardly knew anything about one another, maybe a few things, but nothing personal. Izuru was beginning to think that Shuhei was dragged into this 'relationship'.

Come to think of it, was Shuhei even gay? Did he like the same sex, or was he pretending to like him, for some sick, twisted joke? This hurt the blond even more than it originally did. Even if he didn't like him, Izuru saw the brighter side of the situation as well. To see Shuhei so happy with another wasn't a bad thing, right?

But what Izuru hated the most, was that he wasn't the one who could make Shuhei smile. Because even before they were together, he hadn't once seen the older smile or even seem happy around him.

Izuru fished around his pocket for the keys, still keeping a dry eye as he did so, but he wouldn't last much longer, not like this. He quickly opened the door and slammed it shut when he entered. He let the tears flow right then and there; he slowly walked over to the couch and grabbed a pillow. Izuru buried his head in the pillow and cried into it. His body wracked with sobs.

Shuhei had every right to be with whom he wanted, whether it is male or female. He had been so jealous of that woman; she who makes him smile so effortlessly. While Izuru, who had never even seen him crack a smile around him, tried so hard to do so. He admitted, the woman was beautiful; she seemed like a fun cheery person and probably had an addictive personality. He, on the other hand, was a glum person with a personality as boring as a tree. Actually, a tree might be more interesting.

Another thing was that... she was a female and he a male. It made sense to why Shuhei liked her more than he could ever like a guy. It was the natural cycle of things. This comforted Izuru's mind a great deal, but the pain in his chest only seemed to grow. Why was I born like this? Why do I have to be such a freak? Izuru screamed in his mind.

Maybe he… just wasn't cut out for love.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Izuru didn't realize that he had fallen asleep on the couch; even though it was comfortable, he felt like shit. He rolled onto his back so he could look outside the window. He chuckled, even though his heart wasn't in it. How ironic… If he remembered clearly, today was his day off. That was good; he probably wouldn't be able to face Shuhei, not so soon.

All Izuru wanted to do was curl up into a ball and go back to sleep. He closed his eyes; he was so close to falling asleep but he had no such luck of relaxing. Someone began pounding and pounding on his front door. Ugh.

"Go away!" Izuru barked to the stranger.

"What the hell Izuru? You can't even let your best friend in anymore!" Came the muffled replied. The blond bolted to the front door and quickly unlocked it. Renji looked like he was about to shout again.

"Hey Izuru, can you tell me why you left last night?" Renji demanded. He didn't seem mad, more like irritated with the blond. Izuru really didn't want to remember what had occurred, but he had to give Renji an excuse. He couldn't lie to him, though; Renji would just see right through it anyway. He gestured for the red-head to come inside.

They found a seat on the couch. Izuru sighed.

"Okay, here's what happened…" Izuru then explained to his friend what had happened. He stopped every time he felt the tears starting to form in his eyes, which was about every other sentence. The whole while Renji was getting angrier and angrier at Shuhei; who the hell did he think he was? He thought that Shuhei had actually liked Izuru for him. What a bastard! How could he play him like that?

Once Izuru finished explaining, he willed away the tears that were threatening to fall from his eyes. He didn't want his friend thinking he was weak, not now. He waited for Renji's response; maybe he could give him some helpful advice on the matter…

"That damn bastard. I hate him for making you hurt so much. Izuru, with your consent I can…" Renji began.

"No Renji, don't get carried away. It's not even a big deal. Just, please…" Izuru begged. Even though he hurt a lot and actually wanted Shuhei's ass kicked, he couldn't bring himself have it done. He loved and cared for him too much for that…

The red-head wanted to yell at Izuru for making such a decision, but he huffed out in defeat instead. The blond probably cared too much for him to let that happen. So, as an alternate, Renji stayed with his best friend all day, comforting him.

\----

Izuru yawned. It was early, very early. Too early for his taste at least; he stretched his arms above his head, yawning once more. He was the first one to enter the shop because he had woken up at an extremely early time. Izuru had tried to go back to sleep, but found it very hard. So he threw some clothes on and came here, and surprisingly, it was already open. He had really expected it to be locked or something because he didn't think that Ichimaru came this early.

It was probably before sunrise, that's why he was so tired, but Ichimaru came THIS early? He didn't know that. Anyway, he was here, sitting alone at a table, trying not to fall asleep. He propped his head up with his right hand, his thoughts (unfortunately) drifting back to the incident. It had been two days since that had happened, why was he still thinking about it? It was done with, it was in the past, so why did he feel the same way he did a few days ago?

Izuru knew the answer to the question, but he didn't want to admit it to himself, even though he had already done so. He closed his blue eyes, hoping that reality would soon be replaced with his imagination.

"Izuru? What are ya' doin' here?" asked Gin. The blond snapped his eyes open and looked for Ichimaru. Sure enough, he was there, sitting down casually across from him. He still had that fox-like appearance on his face. It had been a few days since he had seen his superior. He blinked, realizing he hadn't responded to Gin, who was waiting patiently for an answer.

"Uh, I woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep so I decided to come here. Izuru replied.

"Oh, I was jus' curious. Ya look a complete mess. What happened to ya?" Gin asked. Even though Ichimaru was Izuru's superior, and was good friends with him, the blond was not comfortable explaining this subject, no to Gin at least.

But somewhere, deep in his heart, he knew he had to tell him. And tell him he did; Izuru spoke without thinking. His lips kept flapping away as Gin sat there, listening intently. After he had finished telling Ichimaru, a long silence followed.

"Well, did it ever occur to you, tha' maybe it was a misunderstandin'? I mean, maybe ya should confront Shuhei first then ya wouldn' be so heartbroken." was Gin's response. The blond blinked.

"I never thought of that before… it could be…" The thought of this gave hope back to Izuru. He felt some of the heaviness in his heart lift; could I have misunderstood?

"I gotta go Izuru. Take care!" Gin chirped as he stood up and walked away from the table.

The blond could still feel the sorrow that he was holding, but now he felt a small sliver of hope. He shouldn't get his hopes up, not until he was sure.

'I hope Ichimaru is right…'

Once the last person had (finally) left, Izuru quickly put up the closed sign. He staggered to an empty chair nearby; he slumped down into it, completely exhausted. Today had been a real bitch; first there was an angry customer because the book they purchased had missing pages. Then, someone's baby threw up on the carpeted floor and the blond obviously had to clean it up. Finally, today was the release of a popular book, which meant that it was quite busy.

He was so very exhausted and wanted nothing more to get a bit of rest. The hard chair suddenly felt comfortable against Izuru's back, his eyes began to get heavy, and he could swear that his brain stopped working. Sleep took over the tired form in just a few seconds.

Izuru had no idea how long he had been sleeping but figured it was pretty late. The blond sat up in the chair; he rubbed his neck a bit because it began to ache. He stood up from the now uncomfortable chair. He then ran around the store and made sure that everything was in place, etc. etc. The blond grabbed his things and nearly ran outside into the chilly night.

Shuhei had been waiting patiently outside for the blond to exit the building. He felt relieved when the blond finally exited the building. He stood from the bench he was currently sitting down on and began to walk towards Izuru. The blond seemed to spot him because he didn't continue walking on. Shuhei walked at a faster pace in order to catch up to him and not keep him waiting.

"Hey Izuru, sorry to keep you waiting. Let's go." Shuhei said. They began walking side-by-side, not bothering to hurry.

Izuru felt that he needed to ask Shuhei the question, right now. So, he summoned up all of the courage he had and asked.

"Shuhei, who was that woman you were with a few days ago?" The blond asked. He felt adrenaline running through his veins; this was it, was Shuhei seeing another, or he really did like Izuru.

"Why do you ask?" was the (unexpected) reply. The blond was hoping for a straight answer, but it seemed Shuhei wanted to know the reason first.

"I was just wondering." Izuru lied. He hoped that the older would just tell him, he didn't want to be interrogated first.

"Can I know the reason first?" Shuhei countered. Well, there's no way out of this one...

" !" Izuru rushed. A long, (and I mean long!) silence followed afterwards. The blond didn't want to repeat himself; with Shuhei being quiet, he started thinking that maybe his suspicions were right in the first place.

Shuhei was absolutely speechless at Izuru's assumption; he thought he cheated on him? Well, that was kind of expected… especially if he hugged Rangiku and Izuru saw.

"Izuru, that woman is a very close friend of mine. I don't get to see her often and I told her about… you. I was just so happy that she accepted me for who I was, and didn't push me away for liking another male." Shuhei explained. There, that should've cleared things up. He looked over to Izuru, who wasn't next to him. Instead, he was a few feet behind him, frozen in place.

Shuhei walked over to him, "Izuru what's wrong? Are you okay?" He asked worriedly. The next thing he knew, the blond was hugging him like no tomorrow and burying his head into his chest. What the…?

"Thank goodness, I really thought that you were seeing her behind my back. You have no how relieved I am…" His voice cracked. He looked up to see Shuhei staring down at him with such warm kindness in his eyes, and he had a smile on his face.

"I'm glad I get to see you like this, Izuru. It's not necessarily a good thing, but to see you care so much about me, it's a good feeling. Because I know it's hard for you to express your feelings, this really means a lot." Shuhei murmured. Their lips were now centimeters apart, Shuhei crushed their lips together in a passionate kiss.

It felt so good to finally be able to show Shuhei that he did care for him; Izuru loved the guy for crying out loud! But these thoughts were overshadowed by lust and love. They had both been holding back for such a long time now, Izuru knew what was going to happen. But he didn't care, as long as it was with Shuhei, nothing else mattered.


	9. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That's all folks! Thanks for reading my fanfiction. I really appreciate it. Do be expecting more fanfics of these two from me. There are two one-shots, three long ones (such as this) and uh... more in the works. Once i finish the NnoiTes drabbles i may start one on these guys. Idk. Depends on how much feedback i get. I know i digress, but i still don't believe that this one will ever be topped. I just feel that it has something that the others won't... Anyway, thanks again for reading! :D

"Shuhei, where should I put this box?"  
He looked over his shoulder and pointed to the near full sofa, "There's fine. You wanna take a break?" Shuhei asked as the blond set the box carefully down on the sofa.  
"Sure, why not." Izuru wiped sweat forming on his brow, he then sat down abruptly on the floor, and well he tried to. There were so many boxes in here you could swim around in them, so instead he pulled up a chair and began to reminisce. How much had they gone through up to this point? So much ups and downs, but they each pulled through every time, showing just how much they loved one another. Izuru regretted each moment he doubted Shuhei's love, but it seemed that every one of those moments only made their bond tighter than it previously was.  
It had grown so much, that when Shuhei suggested he move in with him, Izuru wasted no time in moving in. Everything seemed just perfect to the blond; someone had finally accepted him for who he was, which was the only thing he ever wanted. Izuru could feel his lips turn up slightly into a small smile as he thought of this. He had never been happier, and the same went for Shuhei, who had disappeared for his spot in the kitchen. Huh? Where did he go…? Lips suddenly brushed against his, effectively snapping him out of his deep thinking. He felt his face flush as grey eyes stared back into blue ones.  
"I just wanted to make sure you were okay, and by the way your face changed color I'd say you're just fine." Shuhei teased. He chuckled when the blond tried covering up his blush with his hands. Grey eyes flicked to the clock hung over the living room, almost time. He pulled the blond to his feet and into his arms; he just wanted to stay like this forever, holding his loved one close to him, in his arms. Well, they had to get ready, even though he didn't want to let go of Izuru. His lips ghosted over the blond's neck; he could almost feel the shivers going up the other's spine.  
"Izuru, we have to get ready." Shuhei whispered into his ear. He pulled from the hug and left the blond standing there with a dumbfounded look on his face.  
"Shuhei you tease!" He shouted a moment later as he realized what happened.

"Hey Renji, been awhile, huh?" Izuru commented as the two couples walked side-by-side. Renji with Rukia, Izuru with Shuhei and a little guest of Shuhei's also tagged along. Rangiku, Rukia and Shuhei were having a conversation a few feet away from them.  
"Yeah, I can't believe that you're already moving in with him. It seems like just yesterday that you were hiding behind the counter wondering if you had a chance with the guy. Those were the days…" Renji sniffed. "My little Izu is now a man; you won't need uncle Renji anymore." He joked sadly.  
"Aw c'mon Renji, I'll need you, you're my best friend. No one can ever replace you; you'll be there for me and I'll always be there for you." Izuru comforted the now sad Renji. Even though he had made it sound somewhat of a joke the blond knew all too well that he was being serious and really thought that he would forget him. To reassure him, Izuru wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him in for a bear hug. Renji was momentarily surprised but got the message and returned the embrace, touched by his friends understanding. Izuru let go of his friend's waist knowing he had comforted him quite enough. By the way… he looked over at the trio; by the looks of it, it seemed that Rangiku was talking to Shuhei about something; he looked over to Rukia and she gave him a knowing smirk. Izuru blushed, embarrassed by the fact that Renji's girlfriend saw him hug her man.  
His attention seemed to focus more on Shuhei and Rangiku after that; she was practically smothering him on account of how close they bodies were, and you could tell she was flirting with him. Izuru felt his hands clench and unclench upon seeing this.  
Shuhei felt so mentally exhausted; he had never been asked so many questions in the time span of thirty minutes, all of them about his relationship with Izuru. Rangiku was really taking advantage of the time she had with her best friend, all of it about his boyfriend. While Rukia just listened in and added comments and giggles here and there, but none as complicated as Rangiku's. Question after question was dealing with personality, favorites and other small things that she wanted to know about the blond. It was sad, really, because she was such an outgoing, lively person; she couldn't or was too shy to talk to Izuru himself. Well it was more of Izuru himself, because he was so shy, he probably wouldn't be able to hold a conversation with her (he can't keep up with people like her).  
He began blocking out Rangiku slowly until all he could hear was the wind; Shuhei felt his eyes wander until he saw Izuru and Renji standing somewhere near a tree; he smiled when he saw the blond. He loved him so much, he just wanted to run over there and show everyone, but he was occupied with his long-time friend and didn't see it fit to ditch her for him. Well, he wouldn't mind, but Rangiku would not shut up with the questions! If only Izuru wasn't as shy as he was… His eyes strayed again to the pair and immediately wanted to rip Renji's head off. There he was, hugging his Izuru, like he wasn't even there. But something didn't seem right; he wouldn't do that out if nowhere, it seemed that Izuru himself initiated the hug. He stayed silent in a jealous rage until Rangiku noticed.  
"You're not answering the questions." She whined. She trailed his eyes to see Renji and Izuru hugging. She then looked back at her best friend; he looked like he was getting ready to kill Renji. This could get interesting… she felt a devilish smirk grow on her lips. Rangiku pressed her body closer to Shuhei's and draped her arm around his waist casually. Shuhei realized this and tried pushing her off.  
"Hey what're you doing Rangiku? Get off!" He shouted. He looked back to see Izuru staring right back at him, his head down. He saw his mouth move, and then he began walking away from Renji.  
Oh no.  
Oh nonono.  
This was not good. There was a misunderstanding between the two of them; Shuhei instinctively pushed Rangiku off of him and ran after Izuru, hoping to clear things up.

Izuru must have been one hell of a fast walker because it took Shuhei forever to catch up to him. When he finally did, the blond pushed him away, literally and emotionally, but Shuhei grabbed his wrists and pulled his hands down. Knowing he couldn't fight it (and hating himself for it) he leaned into his chest.  
"Izuru, I'm sorry for that back there. I was just getting so jealous of you hugging Renji and Rangiku must've seen that and…" Shuhei waited for a response, and then it came.  
"No, I should apologize. I hugged him without considering your feelings; I was just comforting him, maybe I should've just spoken to him." Izuru apologized.  
"I guess we were both at a misunderstanding. So I guess we don't need to apologize about anything. Izuru… I'm so glad we met; you don't realize how much I love you and that I would die for you. I hope you feel the same towards me and that we'll always be togther."  
Their hands intertwined; the blond looked up, eyes locked he spoke.  
"I do feel the same."


End file.
